I recently got a bill for removing a 2.0 engine/auto transmission from my old, wrecked 02' 9-3, connecting the (good) old transmission from it to an already paid-for, completely rebuilt 2.3, and installing the combo into an "unwrecked" 02' 9-3, and the mechanic is listing it as having taken 23.5 hours.....is this a crazy amount of hours for this kind of job? My regular Saab mechanic says it should have taken only 9.4 hours as per AllData's published rate for removing/reinstalling a short block, all ancillaries, but again...this was a complete long-block the mechanic installed with all new parts, bolts, mounts, etc! Here's a breakdown of the bill:

I spoke to the body shop who'd initially evaluated my wrecked car, and they confirmed that there was not any damage that would have added any extra work to removing the 2.0 from it.
Be awesome hearing your guys' opinion of this, thanks!
Vinnie

A friend had the motor pulled from my 85, trans and all accessories swapped to a newer motor with lots of new gaskets and seals, reinstalled and running again all in about 9 hours. I mostly drank beer and we took about an hour for lunch...

Did you get a quote prior to having the work done?

Definitely seems like you got hosed, but maybe it a was a job the shop never wanted to do in the first place. So they decided to jack up the price and stick it to you.